Butterflyhigh

I was sleeved seven years ago and have maintained my goal weight since then. I have been suffering greatly from severe GERD for several years with a dramatic increase in daily pain and discomfort for the past two years. Finally diagnosed with a Gastric Diverticulum. I’m seeing the GI specialist in a few weeks and am expecting they will schedule me for a laparoscopic resection surgery. Anyone have any experience with this? Is there a post-surgery diet to follow? Did it eliminate or lesson your symptoms? Thanks so much for any insight!

I was a low BMI patient and have had great success with the VSG surgery. The weight came off easily and I maintain my current weight with no problem. Life is much happier without the constant nagging issue of weight and food swimming around in my head. However, it hasn't come without lots of personal sacrifice. You've got to put a lot of thought into the long-term changes that you will need to make in order to do this healthily and successfully. I've seen people of all starting BMI's do this the right way and the wrong way. People can either treat WLS as a band-aid to their weight problem OR a powerful tool which helps make real lifestyle changes.

Hi! Our stats are very similar. I am 5'6", 130lbs, and wear a size 2. My doctors goal for me was 145. I easily sailed by that. I am their poster child for WLS success. My lowest was 125. I did not look healthy at that weight. Both my nut's told me the same thing..."Stop losing!". They said to stop exercising, start eating carbs, and add bacon to everything. That was apx. six months ago. I hit 125 lbs and then slowly came up to 130lbs which I think is perfect for me. I still have some people tell me they think adding another 15ish pounds would look better, but I am SO HAPPY with where I am now. Not to mention...it would be ridiculously hard work to gain anymore weight. My body found it's happy spot and 130lbs is where it's stayed. I think I'm at about 1800 calories per day. I don't even track anymore. I just eat good healthy food, do Yoga, and enjoy my life every day thanks to this WLS. I think it's wonderful that you are working with a therapist knowledgable in eating issues. I believe that a huge part of being succsessful with WLS is the changes we make to our thinking and our psychology. Don't worry. You are right about where you should be. Just be mindful that you are ready to put the brakes on your weight loss. Shift your thinking toward maintanance. Good Luck to you!!

Yes. I eat about 1/4 of what I did before. Eating out is something we still do several times per week. I have become a pro at eating on the cheap. I can have a $3.00 side salad and eat a few bites of my kid's chicken. I can make a bag of beef Jerky last for three days. Anytime I order a sandwich it makes two seperate meals for me. I can order an appetizer as a meal, or just a cup of Soup. Many times my daighter will order one entree and I will ask for a small plate and have a sampling of her meal. You can definelty save money.

I agree that the disturbing aspect is the "celebration" of eating pizza. That tells me that the person still has a lot of emotional attachment to food. We all have problems with wrapping our food up with our emotional needs. Cutting the emotional bonds is how I believe true lifelong success can be achieved. I don't like it when people get real judgmental and rightous about other people's food choices. "Celebrating" a pizza at two months out is definitely not a good frame of mind to be in. However, eating a slice of pizza, toppings only-no crust, is not neccesarily a bad food choice. The single slice of pizza may not lead to weight regain, but the celebration of it may.

Yes, I would also like to know what happened. I was excited to finally reach veteran status and now it's gone!

Meh. That's how I feel about the level of helpful advise I've gotten from my nut. I have two and they offer conflicting advise sometimes. Currently I am working on gaining a few pounds. The advise I got was...add bacon to everything, eat more fast food, and stop doing Yoga. Huh??? That's sucky advise IMO. They are both really nice. I mean reeeeally nice. Just not as helpful as I thought they would be.

I didn't feel normal when I ate for many months after surgery...maybe around 6-8 or so. I wasn't in terrible pain, but there was a lot of discomfort. I was also nauseous (but not vomiting, just ill feeling) a lot of time after eating. Mostly I described it as a Blech/Blah/Ugh feeling. It was physically unpleasant and emotionally exhausting. Some days were better than others. Gradually things for me began to normalize and now at 13 months post-op I feel fine. It takes awhile to heal. You are only one month out. Talk to your nut and see if there are any meds to try, or if it's just a wait-and-heal thing. Good Luck in your journey!

Beautiful family. Amazing transformation!! What an incredible journey you've been been on. You're inspirational. I think your post/pics are the last little kick I need to start the weight lifting I've been imagining myself doing. Thank you for sharing.

You should be fine. I had a ride home from surgery, and that was it. No help more than that. Here are some things I did to make things easier on myself... My kitchen was ready. I had these tiny little tupperware (condiment sized) and I pre-measured broth and Water into those. I would get them set up in the morning and it was easy to keep track of my consumption. I also had all my med's lined up and ready for the day, Immediatly post-op I had my living room set up...sofa was ready with lots of pillows, tv ready, bathroom.... I had the frige ready for stage two..pureed. I bought boxed Soups, yogurt, and whatever else I thought of that I may need. I really wanted to avoid grocery shopping with my new sleeve so I prepared as much as possible. My ex kept the kids for about three days after my surgery. I was fine from that point on. Not much recovery time. Mostly it was food prep. The MOST important thing was realizing that my number One go-to coping skill (eating) was non-existent. So my big advise would be to not forget about lining up a few new ways of dealing with stress. Good luck on your journey!! The early days go by quick. The recovery isn't that bad. You can do it alone with some prep work.

Well done! You look fabulous and should be very proud of yourself.

Before at about 220lbs. After at 127 lbs.

I have a casual acquaintance who, every single damn time she sees me says "OMG!!! I didn't recognize you! You're sooo thin?! How did this happen!??! You need to gain a few pounds...here do you want mine??" She is so obnoxious. Pre-Op, I was once asked when my baby was due. She was already 2 years old. Meh. Both situations are embarrasing. Some people have no couth.

I had a breast lift done in 2007 and vsg surgery in 2014. I am one year post-op now. My breasts went from a full C to a small B. Really, they're more like an A 3/4. haha They're still very perky and cute, just much smaller.

Uh oh. You're at the make it or break it point. If you want to have lifelong success with this wls you will need to replace those old habits with new ones. I'll never forget, about 8 weeks post-op, I had a fight with my ex about the kids. I was so frusterated, angry, hurt, etc. Having lost the ability to stuff food in my body and dampen the unwanted emotions...I literally just paced the floors and screamed at the top of my lungs, pulled my hair, pounded my fists. It was impotent rage and I had no way of coping with it without food. I started walking around my property. I would hop in my old pick-up truck and drive around town. I started writing in my journal. I played piano and guitar. Those coping skills started to work!! And it is so much emotionally healthy to actually DEAL with those emotions instead of eating them down. Eventually I discoverd Yoga. Yoga for me is like preventive medicine...it keeps my emotional self balanced before I hit that crazy level of frusteration. Bordeom eating is still an issue for me. But I totally can recognize now as head hunger vs real hunger. And now when I'm bored, instead of eating I rely on one of my other healthy coping skills. This is the when the lifelong changes happen. It's not the inablity to eat large amounts of food that will change your life...it is hitting the RESET button on your relationship with food that will change the rest of your life. Food=Fuel. And when you treat it stictly as such, the freedom you've got is unbelievable. Good Luck!!

That's wonderful! It's amazing how much easier being active is without the burden of hauling around all that excess weight. I had the same Holy Cr** moment when I went on a hike with friends recently. With very little effort I was climbing up hills, scaling down hills, constantly moving and walking over rugged ground. It felt good! No crazy shortness of breath, no serious overheating, no need to make rest stops. I don't do any cardio exercise, so I know it is all due to the loss of 80lbs! It's just amazing how much easier moving around is without having to lugg an extra 80lbs around. Congratualtions!! That is the type of NSV that has a real impact on our lives...not just fitting into cuter sized clothes, but actual quality of life stuff. Well done!

Getting fluids in was hard for me because pre-op all I drank was Water and post-op I could not tolerate it. Here are some things I was doing during the early stages.... diluted apple juice, warmed in the micro chicken broth chocolate pudding scrambled eggs hummus For the first few months eating is pretty boring and monotonous. Take this time to hit the RESET button on your relationship with food. Start to retrain your brain to think of food as fuel, not a thing to gain emotional enjoyment or satisfaction from. I believe that is the key to having lifelong success from this surgery. It's not the first few months of amazing (and easy) weight loss...it's the retraining of your brain that will make it all worthwhile for the long haul. Good Luck on your journey!

I actuall graze quiet a bit during the day. Some days are just all grazing. But it's never on junk. I will have sliced turkey and cheese to nibble on, hummus and crackers, hard boiled eggs, Peanut Butter on banana slices, beef Jerky, high Protein Cereal & milk, string cheese, greek yogurt w/ granola (that's more like a meal), a leftover meatball or two, ect.... When my kids are here at home I cook and we eat meals. When theyre at their dad's I usually just graze on whatever leftovers are in the refrigerator. I still try to track my grazing but as long as it's protein first and pretty healthy food, I don't worry too much about it.

I am just one year post-op. Things are mostly normal for me now. I had no complications, hit goal and then lost a few more, and feel well adjusted to this new way of eating. I think the most important thing I did was use that 'honeymoon' period to reset the way my brain views food. I did a lot of work the first several months learning and relying on new coping skills. I used to just eat eat eat my emotions down. Now I allow myself to fully feel whatever uncomfortable emotion I'm experiencing and then I deal with that emotion by taking a long walk, driving my old truck, doing yoga, journaling, etc... I still have heartburn when I eat too big of bites. Water is still not easy to drink. I no longer want fried food or Pasta. I hate breaded foods and will normall pick all the breading off. I'm not eating enough vegetables because I'm always too full after eating Protein. I eat full fat milk, butter, and cheese. I still love my proetin hot chocolate drink every morning. My biggest no no is Cookies or donuts and milk as a late night snack, but I don't feel guilty because it's just 1-2 cookies OR 2 mini-donuts with one cup of milk. I go out to eat several times per week and have learned how to make good food choices. I can eat for so much cheaper now! This surgery has done a wonderful thing for me....it gave me the opportunity to hit the RESET button on my relationship with food. Now it's simply fuel for my body, not an emotional salve for my hurts. Good luck to you on your journey!! It's definietly been an amazing ride so far.

It's sad when someone feels so badly about themselves that they judge, criticize, and condem another person for making their own good choices. My mother is this way. It's almost like...she can't stand to be near someone who has done/looks/achieved better than her. I think she feels like standing close to them shines a light on her failings and flaws. The only thing I can do to cope with a toxic family member is to feel compassion for them. Trying to truly understand someone's psychology will make it easier to not be angered and hurt by them, instead you end up feeling sorry for them and their demons.

Don't worry. All of the sudden it will be very obvious to everyone around you. I actually became very uncomfortable with all of the attention that my sudden weight loss drew. Some people just go on and on and on about it. You'll soon start to hear that you're too skinny! Good Luck on your amazing journey!

I am at a similar point in my journey as you are. I've lost 20lbs more than my goal weight and now need to put the brakes on my weight loss. Since trying to stop loosing, this is now my second month of holding steady at 127-130lbs. I have to track everything, everyday. Otherwise I just don't get enough calories in. My daily goal is 1500-1700 calories. I eat full fat mayo, butter, and milk. Whole wheat bread. cheese. I snack on cashews and pistachios. I still love my Cliff and Lara Bars. Pasta occasionally. salad w/ranch dressing. It's only been two months, so hopefully I'm on the right track. It feels right. Good luck!

Maybe I'm totally missing something, but what did you do "wrong"? You ate a hamburger without the bun, a small piece of banana cake, and three ribs. I would think that those were perfectly acceptable holiday cookout choices. In my mind, being in "maintenance" means to maintain my current healthy weight by eating in my new normal way. I do NOT want to get wrapped up in the dieting mentality. Eat Protein first. Stay super hydrated with Water. Stay away from simple carbs. Eat an occasional dessert without guilt. Normal eating, not strict dieting. Guilt is a bad thing. Regret is okay. Guilt is a shame based emotion and if you engage in that guilt/shame/blame cycle you may end up doing the same things to either punish or reward yourself as you did pre-op....mostly by eating bad comfort foods. That's how guilt affects me, anyway. You didn't eat a hotdog (which is a horrible choice!), or skip the burger and go straight to the cheesecake. You didn't suck back a giant soda (which is as bad or worse than a hotdog). I think you did okay.

I went from a very full C to a very full A. And I have no ass anymore either.

That was the case for me. I would be hungry and not able to eat. The idea of putting food in my mouth and chewing it up sounded so unappealing for many months. I literally had to make myself eat. I would take a bite here, a bite there...total grazing which is not really allowed. But it was all I could do to get food in me. Eventually things got better, little by little. Some days were fine. Others were nearly impossible to get in 500 calories. I did notice that the longer I went without eating, the harder it was to do. It is still like that now, 12 months post-op. At four weeks out I think it sounds pretty normal. It was about 6-8 months before I started feeling "normal" about eating again. You are in the very early stages still. Many stages and changes are to come. Just settle in for the long haul. How you feel today is not how you will feel 3 months from now. Things will normalize. Good luck!